Author: chicagoinquirer

by Michelle Gumede JOHANNESBURG (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will skip a two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the leading rich and developing nations that starts on Thursday after criticizing host South Africa’s policies as anti-American. Instead, Rubio was headed back to the United States on Wednesday from his first trip to the Middle East as America’s chief diplomat, and after leading a U.S. delegation in talks with Russia in Saudi Arabia over the war in Ukraine. Rubio spoke with the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the European Union’s foreign policy chief…

by Larry Neumeister and Mihael R. Sisak NEW YORK — Justice Department lawyers and New York City Mayor Eric Adams are set to face a federal judge who is signaling that he’s unlikely to rubber stamp their request to drop the mayor’s corruption charges weeks before an April trial. Judge Dale E. Ho in Manhattan scheduled the Wednesday afternoon hearing after three government lawyers from Washington made the dismissal request on Friday. Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor resigned after she refused an order to do so. Ho already indicated that the hearing was likely to be only an initial step when…

by Amanda Setiz, Andrew Demillo and Kevin Freking WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are weighing billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, threatening health care coverage for some of the 80 million U.S. adults and children enrolled in the safety net program. Millions more Americans signed up for taxpayer-funded health care coverage like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace during the Biden administration, a shift lauded by Democrats as a success. But Republicans, who are looking to slash federal spending and offer lucrative tax cuts to corporations and wealthier Americans, now see a big target ripe for trimming. The $880…

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Attorneys for the man suspected of killing rap icon Tupac Shakur want to delay next month’s trial, saying more time is needed for investigative work to ensure that Duane “Keffe D” Davis gets a fair trial. The motion filed Friday in a Nevada court provides insight into Davis’ defense, noting that a private investigator has identified witnesses who can testify that he was not at the scene of the 1996 shooting, nor was he in Las Vegas at the time. The motion also suggests that someone else may have orchestrated the shooting and that witnesses who…

by Fatima Hussein WASHINGTON — The IRS will lay off thousands of probationary workers in the middle of tax season, according to two sources familiar with the agency’s plans, and cuts could happen as soon as next week. This comes as the Trump administration intensified sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection. It’s unclear how many IRS workers will be affected. Previously, the administration announced a plan to offer buyouts to almost all federal employees through a “deferred resignation…

by Alfonso Nqunjana and Gerald Imray PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Some white South Africans showed support for President Donald Trump on Saturday and gathered at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria to claim they are victims of racism by their own government. Hundreds of protesters held placards that read “Thank God for President Trump” and displayed other messages criticizing what they see as racist laws instituted by the South African government that discriminate against the white minority. Many were from the Afrikaner community that Trump focused on in an executive order a week ago that cut aid and assistance to…

NEW YORK (AP) — The 50th anniversary celebration of “Saturday Night Live” is so big, it’s not even on Saturday. Airing Sunday and spanning three hours, the, yes, live “SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration” will assemble a dream team of stars who have helped the show become an enduring pop culture force, including alumni like Tina Fey and Eddie Murphy, notable hosts like Dave Chappelle and Steve Martin and at least four of the surviving original cast members: Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman. The show will also pack in musical guests, with Paul McCartney, Sabrina Carpenter, Bad…

by Dyepkazah Shibayan ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian lawmakers have approved an additional $200 million for the health sector as part of its 2025 spending plan to offset the shortfall from U.S. aid cuts. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with more than 200 million people, was among the top ten recipients of aid from the U.S. Agency for International Development in 2023. USAID’s funding has been frozen for 90 days by the Trump administration. The Nigerian senate appropriations chair Sen. Adeola Olamilekan said during the parliament’s budget session on Thursday that the country could suffer “adverse effects” from the U.S.…

by Mike Stobble and Carla K. Johnson Department of Health and Human Services officials expect most of the agency’s roughly 5,200 probationary employees to be fired Friday under the Trump administration’s move to get rid of nearly all probationary employees, according to an audio recording of a National Institutes of Health department meeting. In that meeting, an NIH office director told employees that some probationary staff with specialized skills might be spared. Probationary staff being terminated would receive an email Friday afternoon, according to audio shared with The Associated Press. Among those being cut are nearly 1,300 probationary employees at…

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Updated 12:35 PM CST, February 14, 2025 Share NEW YORK (AP) — Danielle Sassoon had served just three weeks as interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York when she penned a letter to recently confirmed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi saying she could not follow a directive to drop the office’s corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Sassoon wrote in her letter obtained by The Associated Press that the directive to drop the charges issued by Bove would violate her sworn duty to uphold the law. The directive, “raises serious…